A Sequential Decision-Support Framework for Warehouse Location and Freight Vehicle Selection

Background: Warehouse location and freight vehicle selection are two strategic decisions that significantly influence the efficiency of industrial distribution systems. Although these decisions are usually addressed separately, they can be organized as consecutive stages within a common strategic planning process. This study proposes a sequential decision-support framework combining the Centre of Gravity (CoG) Method and the Forced Decision Matrix Method (FDMM). Methods: The framework comprises five sequential stages: customer demand analysis, warehouse location optimization, location validation, freight vehicle evaluation, and strategic decision support. It was validated using real operational data from a manufacturing enterprise in the Czech Republic. Warehouse location was determined from the aggregated annual transport demand of seven major customer locations (518,911 t), while twelve freight vehicle alternatives were evaluated using four technical and operational criteria. Results: The CoG analysis identified a demand-weighted candidate warehouse location at coordinates T (13.2, 3.5), corresponding to the vicinity of Nový Jičín. The FDMM identified the Scania R480 (D11) as the most suitable freight vehicle. Conclusions: The proposed framework provides a transparent and computationally efficient approach to strategic distribution planning by sequentially linking warehouse location analysis and freight vehicle selection within a single decision-support process.